Memphis coach Josh Pastner grabbed a top-flight player out of his backyard in four-star 2013 guard Markel Crawford.

The 6-foot-5 wing out of Melrose High School, which is only a few miles away from the Memphis campus, picked the Tigers over offers from Auburn, Florida State, Marquette, Ole Miss and Tennessee, according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Memphis only expected an unofficial visit from Crawford last week. But after he spoke with Melrose head coach, Jermaine Johnson, Crawford called Pastner to commit to the Tigers.

"Basically I was just praying, and God told me what to do when I woke up (Wednesday) morning," Crawford said. "(Assistant Damon Stoudamire) had a whole lot (to do with the commitment). He showed great support and he was on me the whole time."

Crawford is the latest in a long line of Melrose starts to join the Tigers at the next level. Johnson said it “seems like Melrose is Memphis U,” before naming a long list of past Memphis Tigers. Prior to Crawford, there were players William Bedford, Larry Finch, Sidney Adkins and Dewayne Bailey, Johnson pointed out, according to The Commercial Appeal.

Crawford is the first signee of a 2013 class that is expected to lead Memphis into the Big East, one of the country’s most competitive basketball conferences. Whether that continues, with Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia taking off for other leagues after next season, is yet to be determined.

Crawford tore his ACL this summer in a Milwaukee AAU tournament with the Atlanta Xpress, but he performed well before that. He told The Commercial Appeal that Memphis and other schools were not scared away by the injury.